desirable

D2E1S1I1R1A1B3L1E1
UK/dɪˈzaɪəɹəbəl/UK[dɪˈzaɪ(j)əɹəbəɫ]Canada, US/dɪˈzaɪɹəbəl/Canada, US[dɪˈzaɪɹəbəɫ]

adjective

Worthy to be desired; pleasing; agreeable.

“This applicant has almost all desirable properties.”

Opposite
CommonScrabble 12

Meanings

adjectivedesirable (comparative more desirable, superlative most desirable)

comparative more desirable · superlative most desirable

  1. Worthy to be desired; pleasing; agreeable.

    This applicant has almost all desirable properties.

    2 more examples

    It has long been recognised that complete segregation of control of the respective services provided by the two undertakings, and of the power supply, signalling, and tracks relating to each was desirable.

    1956 July, “New Works on District Line, L.T.”, in Railway Magazine, page 485

    With fresh material, taxonomic conclusions are leavened by recognition that the material examined reflects the site it occupied; a herbarium packet gives one only a small fraction of the data desirable for sound conclusions. Herbarium material does not, indeed, allow one to extrapolate safely: what you see is what you get[…]

    1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page vii
  2. Sexually attractive.

    The desirable Miss Moneypenny, M's all-powerful private secretary, gave him an encouraging smile and he walked through the double doors.

    1954, Ian Fleming, “Interview with M”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 13

    Synonyms: luscious

noundesirable (plural desirables)

plural desirables

  1. A thing that people want; something that is desirable.

    There are plenty of desirables on display in the window.

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveSexually attractive.

Similar
Opposite

More synonyms by meaning

adjectiveworth having or seeking or achieving

Opposite

adjectiveworthy of being chosen especially as a spouse

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Old Frenchdesirable
  2. Englishdesirable

From Old French desirable. Morphologically desire + -able.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek ἐφετός
  • ἐφετός (ephetós)suitable to be desired
Bulgarian желан, желателен
  • желан (želan)suitable to be desired
  • желателен (želatelen)suitable to be desired
Catalan desitjable
  • desitjablesuitable to be desired
Chinese Mandarin 合意, 合乎願望的 /合乎愿望的
  • 合意 (héyì)suitable to be desired
  • 合乎願望的 /合乎愿望的 (héhū yuànwàng de)suitable to be desired
  • 令人滿意的 /令人满意的 (lìng rén mǎnyì de)suitable to be desired
Czech žádoucí
  • žádoucísuitable to be desired
Danish ønskelig
  • ønskeligsuitable to be desired
Dutch wenselijk
  • wenselijksuitable to be desired
Esperanto dezirinda
  • dezirindasuitable to be desired
Finnish toivottava, toivottu
  • toivottavasuitable to be desired
  • toivottusuitable to be desired
  • haluttavasuitable to be desired
  • haluttusuitable to be desired
French souhaitable, désirable
  • souhaitablesuitable to be desired
  • désirablesuitable to be desired
German erwünscht, wünschenswert
  • erwünschtsuitable to be desired
  • wünschenswertsuitable to be desired
  • begehrenswertsuitable to be desired
  • erstrebenswertsuitable to be desired
  • erstrebsamsuitable to be desired
Greek επιθυμητός
  • επιθυμητός (epithymitós)suitable to be desired
Hebrew רצוי, מבוקש
  • רצוי (ratsúy)suitable to be desired
  • מבוקש (mevukásh)suitable to be desired
  • נחשק (nekhshák)suitable to be desired
Hungarian kívánatos
  • kívánatossuitable to be desired
Italian desiderabile
  • desiderabilesuitable to be desired
Japanese 望ましい
  • 望ましい (nozomashii)suitable to be desired
Latin optābilis
  • optābilissuitable to be desired
Norwegian Bokmål ønskelig
  • ønskeligsuitable to be desired
Polish pożądany
  • pożądanysuitable to be desired
Portuguese desejável
  • desejávelsuitable to be desired
Romanian de dorit, dezirabil
  • de doritsuitable to be desired
  • dezirabilsuitable to be desired
Russian жела́тельный, жела́нный
  • жела́тельный (želátelʹnyj)suitable to be desired
  • жела́нный (želánnyj)suitable to be desired
Spanish deseable, conveniente
  • deseablesuitable to be desired
  • convenientesuitable to be desired
Swedish önskvärd, eftersträvansvärd
  • önskvärdsuitable to be desired
  • eftersträvansvärdsuitable to be desired
  • åtråvärdsuitable to be desired
Thai พึงประสงค์, เป็นที่ต้องการ
  • พึงประสงค์ (peung bpràsŏng)suitable to be desired
  • เป็นที่ต้องการ (bpen têe dtông gaan)suitable to be desired
  • ตามปรารถนา (dtaam bpràattànăa)suitable to be desired
Turkish tatminkar
  • tatminkarsuitable to be desired
Ukrainian ба́жаний
  • ба́жаний (bážanyj)suitable to be desired

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

desirable. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/desirable

MLA

“desirable.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/desirable. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “desirable,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/desirable.

Source: desirable on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.